The present invention relates to a doll house and, more particularly, to a doll house having separate, modular rooms for design.
Numerous types of doll houses have been designed and enjoyed by children and adults. Doll houses come in a variety of designs and are decorated in a variety of manners. Various doll houses, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,709, are designed to be foldable and portable. Some doll houses, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,262, are designed to include storage compartments for doll house furniture and accessories. Often, doll houses are designed to allow the user to paint its various components to further aid in the education and enjoyment by use. U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,446 even provides for a doll house with a transparent external assembly to readily enable drawings to be displayed on or in the doll house. Moreover, doll houses come in a variety of shapes and may constitute a single decorated room or multiple rooms. Numerous other doll house features also exist. However, there are many advantageous features and designs of doll houses that have not yet been contemplated.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a doll house with features that are not included in existing designs.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a doll house with a particular design that facilitates the easy replacement of wall coverings, such as wall paper.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a doll house with an advanced electrification system.
An additional object of this invention is to provide a doll house with a uniquely removable front cover.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a doll house having a unique, modular design to facilitate the easy addition of rooms on top of one another safely and conveniently.
Various other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
In accordance with the present invention, a doll house includes a box-like structure having a floor and a top surface, and a rear and two side walls, with the structure having an open front. Wall panels are provided with each wall panel including first and second surfaces having different designs thereon. Each wall panel is adapted to be releasably retained by and to substantially fully cover a respective one of the rear and two side walls, and also is adapted to be installed with either of the surfaces revealed.
As an aspect of the present invention, the first surface of each wall panel has the same first design thereon, and the second surface of each wall panel also has the same second design thereon, and the first and second designs are different.
As a further aspect of the present invention, a magnetic sheet is fixed to each of the rear and side walls, and wall panel is made of a material that is magnetically attracted to a magnetic sheet.
As another aspect of the present invention, a ceiling panel is provided with first and second surfaces having different designs thereon, and the ceiling panel is adapted to be releasably retained by and to substantially fully cover the ceiling (i.e., the underside of the top surface), and also is adapted so that it can be installed to reveal either of its surfaces.
As a feature of this aspect, the two surfaces of the ceiling panel have the same designs as the first and second surfaces of at least one of the wall panels.
As another feature, a ceiling fixture can be mounted to the underside of the top surface and, when mounted, the ceiling fixture extends downward from the top surface and through an aperture in the ceiling panel.
As a further feature, two magnetic sheets are fixed to the top surface and disposed on opposite sides of the ceiling fixture, and the ceiling panel is made of a material that is magnetically attracted to the two magnetic sheets.
As an additional feature, the ceiling fixture includes a relatively flat contact end that contacts the top surface when mounted, and the contact end of the ceiling fixture is retained by the ceiling panel around the ceiling panel""s aperture.
As yet a further aspect of the present invention, the doll house includes a floor panel with two surfaces having different designs thereon, and the floor panel is adapted to be positioned on and to substantially fully cover the floor. The floor panel can be installed to reveal either of its two surfaces.
As yet another aspect of the present invention, the floor and rear panels include a tab to enable their removal from the floor and rear wall, respectively. As still yet a further aspect of the present invention, the floor and top surface of the doll house are trapezoidal in shape with their respective smaller dimensions being at the rear wall, and the two side walls have sloped top edges that slope downward toward the rear wall so that the top surface also slopes downward towards the rear wall.
As still yet another aspect of the present invention, electrical outlets are disposed in the floor, and the floor is a printed circuit board that provides a supplied source of power to each of the electrical outlets.
As a feature of this aspect, the rear wall of the doll house is comprised of a back wall and a false wall with a gap between them, an electrical outlet is disposed in the top surface, and an electrical connection is provided that extends from the printed circuit board through the gap between the back and false walls to the top surface""s electrical outlet.
As still yet an additional aspect of the present invention, a protective front cover is provided that can be installed over the open front of the doll house. The protective front cover has a frame with magnetic components installed therein, and the side walls of the doll house have magnetic components installed near the open front at positions that correspond to positions at which the magnetic components are installed in the protective front cover""s frame. The magnetic components in the frame are attracted to the magnetic components in the side walls so that the front cover is retained when mounted.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a doll house includes a box-like module having a floor, a top surface, a rear wall, two side walls and an open front. The floor and top surface are trapezoidal in shape with their respective smaller dimensions being at the rear wall, and each side wall has a sloped top edge that slopes downward towards the rear wall so that the top surface also slopes downward towards the rear wall. The doll house also includes a pair of stacking pins that can be removably connected to the top of the top surface near the rear wall to enable the mounting of a second module having a level floor on top of the doll house.
As an aspect of this embodiment, two or more modules can be installed on top of the first module using stacking pins.
As another aspect, a drawer unit can be mounted on top of the doll house using the stacking pins.
As a further aspect, the drawer unit can be mounted below the doll house.
As an additional aspect, ball feet including the stacking pins can be utilized as feet for the doll house by installing a ball foot with a stacking pin at each bottom corner of the doll house.